Hashtags: A History & Basic Guide
by Kathy Seaton
By Lalida Sriyordsa
Every minute, social media is changing around us. With the evolution of popular sites like Facebook and Instagram becoming integral parts of everyday life, the way we market our companies and businesses must also adapt to the way society conforms.
If you’ve ever seen images followed with the pound sign and a keyword (#swag is popular for the millennial generation), then you’ve at least seen what a hashtag looks like in the wild.
According to Lifehack:
“The very first hashtag EVER was #barcamp by Chris Messina. Due to this initial successful tryout (against the Twitter boss’s wishes) we now see hashtags as the first place to find information on the latest news and events on a global scale. Things happen on Twitter through hashtags faster than breaking news programs are able to catch them-the result being that Twitter is now a primary resource for many news stations.”
Without a doubt, whether you’re looking to reach audiences within a specific conference group or hoping to share your social media around the world, hashtags can (and should) be used as a valuable and fun tool to spread news.
Almost all social media sites such as Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Youtube, Tumblr, Pinterest, Google Search, and Twitter all allow uses of hashtags that allow you to search for anyone who is interested in that keyword as well. In fact, LinkedIn is the only social media outlet that doesn’t allow the usage of hashtags.
Here are a few tips and tricks that can help you effectively use hashtags:
- Feel free to use numbers, but no punctuation marks. #50thUCI
- Keep it simple and think of your tone. For example, Nike’s #makeitcount relates to the brand’s theme and resonates.
- Keep it relevant to your brand. Anything too vague such as #happy or #fun may not attract the audience you’re going for.
- Be creative and feel free to make your own. Whether you’re using the hashtag to run a promotion, giveaway, or just adding news, creativity always gets bonus points #uciegiveaway
You can also use some great tools to help find trending topics and related hashtags:
- Trendsmap shows latest trends from Twitter for anywhere in the world based on a geographic location
- Hashtagify.me gives you the latest trending hashtags related to hashtags updated daily
- RiteTag can also help you identify hashtags that get results and leads you to use them more
Have any awesome hashtags you’ve found success with or have any other tools that you use? Share with us below.